


Mana du Vortes, Aeria Gloris

by Queenie_Mab



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M, Manip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-25
Updated: 2010-10-25
Packaged: 2017-11-06 19:36:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/422455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queenie_Mab/pseuds/Queenie_Mab
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cas has fallen from grace for Dean. Will Dean come to accept that life is worth living and save his brother from the plague hell has left stamped in his mind?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mana du Vortes, Aeria Gloris

**Art Prompt Title:** [Untitled Dean/Castiel](http://pics.livejournal.com/queenie_mab/pic/00007drs/s640x480)  
 **Artist:** [ ](http://stawberynvanila.livejournal.com/profile) [ **stawberynvanila** ](http://stawberynvanila.livejournal.com/)

**Fic Title:**[Mana du Vortes, Aeria Gloris](LINK)  
 **Author:**[](http://queenie-mab.livejournal.com/profile)[ **queenie_mab**](http://queenie-mab.livejournal.com/)  
 **Fandom/Genre:** SPN/Slash character fiction.  
 **Pairing(s):** Dean/Castiel with a side of Sam/Gabriel  
 **Rating:** NC-17  
 **Word Count:** ~10,100  
 **Warnings:** Wing!kink, rimming  
 **Summary:** Cas has fallen from grace for Dean. Will Dean come to accept that life is worth living and save his brother from the plague hell has left stamped in his mind?  
 **Spoilers:** Through season AU 6.01  
 **Notes/Prompts:** Thank you to my beta [](http://nanoochka.livejournal.com/profile)[**nanoochka**](http://nanoochka.livejournal.com/) I couldn’t have done it without her. The prompt was: Fallen Angel!Castiel. Cas gave up heaven for Dean. The title means: "Watch in Awe, Heavenly Glory" Written for the [](http://spn-reversebang.livejournal.com/profile)[**spn_reversebang**](http://spn-reversebang.livejournal.com/)  
 **Disclaimer:** All Supernatural characters are the brain children of Erik Kripke, and are used here solely for entertainment purposes. No profit comes from the posting of this story. No copyright infringement intended. Based loosely on the lyrics of [Inner Universe](http://queenie-mab.livejournal.com/38080.html#cutid1) by Yoko Kanno

 

He sat up with a start, cold sweat covering his body. His breath came quick and labored.

“Dean, are you all right?” Lisa asked, sleepily concerned.

Dean scrubbed his face with his hand. “Yeah, go back to sleep; it was just a dream.”

He got up and went to the bathroom, hiding the front of his boxer-briefs as he’d come in his sleep again, dreaming of Castiel. He took a piss and climbed into the shower, hoping the hot water would wash away the thoughts from his mind. It was really starting to bother him, how turned on he was by the thought of being fucked by an angel—a male angel, for that matter. It wasn’t like Cas was around, anyway; since returning to heaven, he hadn’t had the decency to even stop by and say hello.

He scrubbed his hair and body with a bar of soap, wanting to wash the memory of his dream away along with the sweat. The bathroom billowed with steam, rising out from behind the simple plastic shower curtain. Dean rinsed himself beneath the hot spray of the shower and turned around, holding on to the knob.

“Shit—what?” he stammered, and accidentally turned the water on full cold. Yelping in surprise, Dean jumped back from the spray; a hand had reached in from behind the clear plastic, its wrist bound by a white shirt cuff and the sleeve of a tan trench coat.

Silently, the hand shut off the water and withdrew.

Dean grabbed a pink towel off the rack on the wall and wrapped it around his waist, then pulled back the curtain. Castiel was sitting on the lid of the toilet, looking up at Dean with an indecipherable expression on his face.

“Cas, what the—what are you doing here? I haven’t seen you in God knows how long and you decide to pay me a visit while I’m in the shower? What gives?” Dean held the towel tightly closed as he stepped out of the bathtub.

Cas continued to stare at Dean’s face from his seat on the toilet. “I have—news,” he said, and then stopped talking.

Dean leaned up against the vanity with his back to the mirror, holding onto the counter with his hands. “Do I want to know?”

Cas turned his head, cocked slightly to look at Dean from this new angle. “It has to do with your brother. Is there someplace we can go, so we don’t disrupt your—Lisa?” Cas’s voice sounded broken, almost despairing.

At first, Dean furrowed his eyebrows, but then he said, “Yeah, give me a sec to put some clothes on.”

Cas leaned over and touched Dean’s hand with his. “You are now dressed. It is imperative that we go now.”

Dean turned around and swiped the fogged mirror with his hands. Cas had dressed him in his favorite jeans and an AC/DC T-shirt. His boots were on his feet and the leather jacket he had in storage hung on the hook of the bathroom door. Figuring there was no point in acting surprised, he grabbed the jacket. “Thanks, let’s go.”

“Do you not want to let Lisa know that you are going?” Cas asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Nah, she’ll be fine,” Dean answered, after a pause. “I want to hear this news of yours.”

“Very well,” Cas said, and got to his feet. He stepped close to Dean and put his hand on Dean’s waist.

“What the—” Dean sputtered, but Cas had already spirited them away. The next he knew he was held tight to Cas’s chest, their faces inches from each other. “Er—Cas, are you going to let me go?”

Cas released him, and Dean stumbled to find his footing. They seemed to be in a hotel room. He looked around, but it was a lot like the ones he’d spent his life living in, just smaller and with only one bed.

Memories of his dream came flooding back. The image of himself lying back while Cas held onto his ankles and pounded him into the mattress rose to the forefront of his thoughts. He colored, hoping Cas would have the decency not to read his thoughts.

He cleared his throat. “So this is where you’re staying?” he asked, non-chalant.

“Yes,” Cas answered dryly. “It is also where you will be staying while we work on the problem at hand.”

Dean looked at Cas’s sharp blue eyes, radiating with his grace. At least Cas didn’t need to sleep, so Dean didn’t need to freak out at the singular bed.

“I’m not doing anything until you tell me what the problem is,” Dean said gruffly. “You didn’t contact me all year, and now you just expect me to drop my current life and go back to hunting? It doesn’t work that way, Cas.”

“Very well,” Cas said. He shrugged out of his trench coat and hung it in the closet before removing his suit jacket as well. He turned around and gestured to the bed. “Would you like to sit down? It would probably be best.”

Dean pulled off his leather jacket and set it on top of the mini-fridge, and then sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for Cas to elaborate. The angel came to stand right in front of Dean, so close their knees were almost touching. He looked down.

“Samuel is out of the cage,” said Castiel.

Dean just stared at him blankly. “Excuse me?” It took a moment for him to process that information, and for some reason his first question was, “Are his strings still being pulled by Lucifer?”

“No,” Cas said, sitting down on the bed beside Dean. “All I know is that he is with Gabriel, but not where or why. I don’t know how he escaped. What troubles me is the fact that vessels are left virtually comatose once the angel has left, and Lucifer is a powerful being. His first vessel began to disintegrate from the beginning. There is a large probability that Sam has been damaged in some way; we have to find him immediately.”

Dean stared at a spot on the grey carpeting. He rubbed his eyes with his fists. “Okay, Cas. What do we have to do to find him?” he asked, drooping his shoulders and putting his hands in his lap.

Wearing a curious expression, Cas looked over to Dean. “I do not know,” he said. “I have a feeling he will find you, but I am unsure what to expect.”

Dean bent his fingers, digging the tips into the soft fold of his worn jeans. “Well that’s just great, isn’t it? So what, we stay here and wait?”

“Yes,” said Cas simply.

“Right, whatever,” Dean muttered. “Would you mind disappearing for a while while I get some shut-eye?” Cas looked down at the floor. Dean got a bad feeling. “Cas, what is it?” he asked.

“There’s something else I haven’t told you,” Cas said miserably.

“Well, you wanna enlighten me before I turn in?” Dean asked.

“I’ve fallen,” Cas said. “I am no longer part of the host.”

“Bullshit, Cas,” Dean said. “You were getting on your angel mojo just fine to get us here.”

“I will show you,” Cas said, and stood up, beginning to unbutton his white shirt.

“Hey, there’s no need to be getting naked now,” Dean said, trying hard to push the thought of what Cas naked did to his libido. Denial was getting harder now that Cas was present.

Cas looked at Dean, quirking his head. “I am not getting naked. I am wearing a T-shirt under my shirt. I need to show you my brand.” He pulled his shirt out of the waistband of his suit pants and finished taking it off. While he was hanging it beside his coats in the closet, Dean noticed he had a tattoo in Enochian, he guessed, all around his left bicep.

“What’s with the tat, Cas?” Dean asked, smiling crookedly. “I don’t see you as the badass type.”

Cas stared down at the tattoo on his arm and then looked Dean in the eye. “This isn’t a tattoo,” he explained. “It’s a brand. They gave it to me when I was cast out. It places limitations on what I am able to do with my grace; I am a fallen angel.”

The bitterness in Cas’s voice was so tangible that Dean shifted uncomfortably. “So, er—what does it say? I don’t recognize those symbols.”

“You wouldn’t,” Cas agreed. “It’s written in Enochian’s first form, one that hasn’t been shared with humans. It says, ‘He who does not perceive his calling does not know true happiness’.”

Dean frowned. “Well, shit, Cas, what did you do to get tossed out?”

Cas looked at Dean with a deadpan stare. “I don’t want to talk about it. They are mistaken. I perceive my calling clearer than any of them, but they do not believe it is God’s Will. Heaven has become—chaotic. But what it also means is that I now have human needs. I will be required to share the bed, for I must sleep as well.”

Dean just about choked. “What? Why the hell didn’t you book a room with two beds if you knew you needed to sleep as much as I do?”

Cas tilted his head. “Is it wrong to sleep in the same bed? There is plenty of room.”

Dean stood up and ran his hand through his short brown hair, tugging at it. “It’s fine, for tonight, but we’re moving to another hotel tomorrow, one that has two queens.”

Cas nodded and undid his belt, pulling it out of the loops.

“What are you doing, Cas?” Dean asked. His voice came out sounding slightly higher than he had intended.

Cas gave him another puzzled look. “People do not sleep in their outerwear,” he said. “I don’t want my suit to be wrinkled in the morning.” He stepped out of his pants and hung them in the closet as well.

Cas stood in his white T-shirt and boxer briefs. He turned to look at Dean. “What is it? Have I done something incorrect?”

“No,” Dean said shaking his head. He pulled his T-shirt off and flung it in the corner, then kicked off his boots and undid his belt. He stepped out of his jeans and tossed them to join his shirt. He crawled into bed on the side nearest the door and flopped onto his stomach. “G’nite, Cas,” he said, thoroughly exhausted.

Cas sat down on his side of the bed and began to chant in Enochian. The sound of his voice speaking those unfamiliar syllables went straight to Dean’s cock. He groaned and hid his head beneath the pillow, pushing into the mattress in an attempt to stave off his budding erection.

When Cas finished, he climbed beneath the covers and his scent filled Dean’s senses. Cas’s smell reminded him of new things, growing things, of spring and the delicious scent of freshly turned earth warming in the sun after a rainstorm.

“What was that you were saying?” Dean asked, turning his head towards Cas and lifting his pillow so he could see.

Cas smiled. “I was praying.”

“It sounded like a song,” Dean said.

Cas sighed. “I asked my Father that I be allowed to remain myself longer. I don’t know that He’s even listening. But just in case He is, I do my part to stay in touch.”

“Whatever it was that you did, Cas, I think if God is paying attention, He would recognize you as a good son.”

“Thank you, Dean. I like to believe that as well. Goodnight.”

Sleep claimed Dean almost immediately and he wasn’t pestered by any dreams of Hell or of Cas, which he thought was a blessing.

~*~

The following morning Dean came into consciousness slowly. He felt warm, like he was a little boy again, safe in his mother’s arms. He smiled and pushed back against the warmth, opening his eyes, but as he did he instantly became aware of a distinct hardness poking him in the ass. He looked down to find that Cas had his arm thrown over Dean’s waist and was holding him close with his hand against Dean’s chest.

“Cas,” Dean hissed.

Cas stirred, rubbing himself harder against Dean. Dean couldn’t help but begin to become aroused by the sensation, and it freaked him out. He tried rolling over out of the angel’s hold, but Cas had him held tight. When he tried to wriggle out, Cas tightened his grip.

“No, stay,” Cas breathed, pressing gentle kisses against the fine hairs on Dean’s neck.

Dean felt his erection straining at the waistband of his underwear. He had to get out of the bed, away from Cas, had to get to the bathroom where he could take care of his problem in private.

“Cas, wake up!” Dean bellowed.

Cas’s arms loosened their grip on his body. “What’s happening?” Cas asked sleepily.

“You’re just jumping my bones while I’m sleeping. What gives?”

Cas let go of Dean and pulled away from his body, leaving Dean feeling strangely bereft and cold. “I apologize, Dean,” he said. “I must have been dreaming.”

“Yeah,” Dean grunted. “Don’t share your dreams with me, please. I’ve gotta piss.” He jumped out of bed, facing away from Cas and rushed to the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

He leaned against the door and brought his underwear down just enough to pull his erection free. He looked down as he spread the pearly white fluid over his crown with his thumb, inhaling sharply at the pleasurable sensation it produced.

God, he’d felt good with Cas’s morning wood pressed against the crack of his ass. He closed his eyes and pictured their wake up that morning differently than it had happened.

Cas kissed his neck gently, causing the small hairs to stand up. He pictured Cas’s hand that held onto his chest so tightly move down his body until it found his cock, toying with the head before stroking him with those long, soft fingers of his.

Dean moaned against his closed lips and pressed himself back into the door, jerking on his cock, swollen with arousal, imagining it was Cas doing it to him. He imagined what Cas’s cock would look like sliding in and out of his hole, how it would feel to be filled by Cas, pumped full of his come. Dean squeezed his cock, milking it gently as his balls drew up tight. He pulled on them with his other hand, rolling them with his fingers until he was so close.

There was a sudden knock at the bathroom door. “Dean, are you okay in there?” asked Castiel, and the sound of his name on Cas’s tongue was all it took. He groaned and grunted as he came, rope after rope of sticky white jumping from his cock to the floor.

“Yeah,” Dean gasped, still in the throes of release. “I’m fine. I’ll be out in a bit.”

After cleaning up the floor and having a shower and a shave, Dean came out to the main room dressed in a towel. He stopped dead when he heard the sounds of sex coming from the television set. “Cas? What are you watching?” he asked.

Cas was propped up against the headboard of the bed, his erection straining against his underwear, but he didn’t seem to notice it. He was watching the screen intently. “What?” he asked.

Dean walked to the bed where he could get a good look at what Cas was watching. It was a close-up of a man licking another man’s asshole and sticking his tongue inside, wriggling it around.

“What the fuck? Cas why are you watching gay porn?” Dean asked, eyes dropping to Cas’s cock threatening to poke its tip out of his underwear.

“What?” Cas asked. “You watch people having sex all the time. I thought it was a normal thing for humans to do.”

“Yeah,” Dean said. “But watching porn in front of another guy without warning him first—not normal.”

Cas shrugged, turning his attention back to the television where the actors were getting into position to fuck. “I’m sorry if I’m not normal, but I like this.”

“Honestly? You _like_ watching some guy lick another guy’s ass?”

“He seems to enjoy having it done to him. I wonder what that would feel like.”

“I’ve gotta get out of here,” Dean said. “I’ve got to tell Lisa I’ll be gone, and pick up some spare clothes and the Impala. Can you just pop me back to the house? I’ll drive back and you’ll have plenty of time to get your jollies off.”

“Get my what?” Cas asked, confused.

“Never mind,” Dean grumbled. He went to the corner where he’d thrown his clothes the night before and slipped into them, keenly aware that Cas was watching him dress, with a raging hard-on.

Once he was dressed, he walked over to where Cas was lying on the bed. “Er—Cas, could you send me to Lisa’s?”

Cas looked up at Dean, slowly tearing his eyes from the television screen. Dean wasn’t sure what he saw in Cas’s eyes—regret, sadness perhaps—but then Cas leaned out and grabbed Dean by the hand. He held onto it for a moment, then squeezed. The next thing Dean knew, he was back in the ensuite bathroom he’d shared with Lisa for the past year.

He opened the door and stepped out. Lisa was sitting in bed, in a horrible-looking nightgown, reading a book. She looked up as Dean came into the room, and went from surprised to angry in a second.

“Where the hell have you been?” she hissed, throwing down the book. “Ever think to use your cell?”

Dean walked over to his side of the bed and picked up his phone. “I didn’t take it with me. An old friend dropped by last night and spirited me away. He just put me back in the bathroom, all right?”

“What _friend_ is this?” Lisa spat. “Let me guess; he’s one of your secrets that you won’t tell me about—some sort of voodoo witch doctor or something, right?”

“Look, Lisa, I’m sorry. I’ve been called back into hunting. There’s news about my brother, Sam. You know, he disappeared last year?”

“Yes, Sam. I thought you said he died?” she asked, suddenly concerned.

“Yeah,” Dean agreed, scrubbing his face. “I thought so, too, but it looks like I might have been wrong.” Dean looked at Lisa sadly. “Lisa,” he said, sitting down on the edge of the bed, turning to face her. “I’m not cut out for this life. I mean, once I thought Sam was gone, I thought I might be able to do it. He wanted me to have a normal life, but I think you know as well as I do that things aren’t working out between us.”

Lisa sighed and swept her long brown hair back out of her face, and picked at a button on her nightgown. “I know,” she said. “I know you’ve been dreaming of another woman. You talk in your sleep sometimes. You’re in love with this Cass, aren’t you?”

Dean smiled in disbelief. “What? No, you’ve got it all wrong. Cas is an angel—pulled me out of Hell. That’s all.”

“Dean, listen to yourself; you’re lying to me. The things you said to her in your sleep. I mean—you’ve never talked to _me_ like that.

Dean felt his face go hot. “I’m sorry,” he said, clearing his throat. “Can I come by to see you and Ben sometimes when I have some time?”

Lisa looked up at him. “Yeah, I think he’d like that. But I’m not going to wait for you again. It’s time for me to move on. If this dream girl of yours, this angel, really means something to you, I think you should give her a chance. Things didn’t work out with us, but that doesn’t mean you’ll never find the one you want to spend your life with.”

“Right,” he said, blinking his eyes a few times. What had he said in his sleep that made her think he was in love with Cas? “Well, I’ll just pack my stuff and I’ll see you around.”

Lisa’s eyes leaked tears from the corners. “Yes. I think that’s best.”

After packing up his duffel bag and taking the cover off the Impala, where it had been sitting in the garage, he sat down in the driver’s seat and patted the dashboard.

“Hi, girl, I’ve missed you,” he said and started the engine.

~*~

Dean pulled the Impala into the hotel’s parking lot. It was half past ten and checkout was usually at eleven. He unlocked the door and opened it to find Cas on the bed, as hard as ever, still watching gay porn.

“Cas, what are you doing? I thought you’d have come by now. We’ve gotta get ready to check out.”

Cas breathed a ragged breath. “I paid through the week; we’re not going anywhere.”

“But the bed,” Dean argued. “I can’t sleep in a bed you’re going to come in, and what the hell is it taking you so long, anyway? Just reach in, grab your dick and pull; it’ll come right out.”

Cas colored, the head of his purpling cock poking out from beneath the waistband of his briefs.

“Gabriel stopped by. He told me I should ‘hold my load’ until you got back.”

“Oh, he did, did he?” Dean asked, raising an eyebrow.

Cas snaked his hand down his briefs like Dean had suggested and began to rub his cock, tugging on it and gasping.

“What the hell?” Dean spluttered. “Cas, wait til I leave the room,” he said, rushing for the bathroom.

He stood at the sink, looking into the mirror and closed his eyes when he heard a loud cry come from the next room. He sighed and sat on the toilet, picking up a discarded magazine, and looked through it.

The cry came again. Cas was being very loud; he sounded like a porn star. Dean’s jeans began to grow a bit tight, but he bit his lip and started humming, forcing himself to concentrate on the recipes in the food magazine he’d picked up.

After about ten minutes, Dean set the magazine on the counter, and opened the door a crack, listening. All was quiet. “Cas?” he called. “Cas are you all right?”

Cas didn’t answer.

Dean felt his heart rate speed up, thumping against his breastbone with panic. He flung the door open and rushed into the main room. Cas was totally naked, sprawled across the bed with a large puddle of splooge on his stomach. His breathing was steady and regular. Dean crept up beside the bed and looked down at the sleeping angel. He shook his head. It’s always the quiet ones you have to watch out for, he thought.

He hit the button on the television, silencing the porn, and went back to the bathroom to grab Cas a towel.

When he came back, Cas was opening and closing his eyes, blinking slowly.

“Cas?” Dean asked. “Cas, you okay?”

Cas sighed and caught the towel Dean tossed at him. He wiped the come off his stomach without moving his head. He looked up at Dean upside down. “I’ve never felt anything like that before,” he admitted.

“So it looks like I missed the show by just a couple of minutes. Damn,” Gabriel said from the table by the front window.

Cas turned glassy eyes towards him and lifted his hand floppily in greeting.

“What the fuck are _you_ doing here?” Dean demanded. “What’s up with telling Cas to wait until _I_ came back for him to come?”

Gabriel grinned and snapped a package of skittles into his hand. He shook a few into his mouth and chewed them while looking at Dean thoughtfully.

“Well, I see you have your priorities in order,” he said, corner of his mouth quirking. “Ask about Cas’s sexual proclivities before you ask about your brother. I must say I’m disappointed in you, Dean-o.” Gabriel shook his head sadly.

He snapped his fingers and Cas lay on the bed fully dressed. “Sorry, bro,” he said. “I’ve seen enough of your skin to last me a lifetime.”

“What is going on with Sam?” Dean demanded, ignoring Gabriel’s barbed comments towards Cas.

“Well, now we’re getting somewhere,” Gabriel said, popping a few more Skittles into his mouth. “You see, Sam has been out for awhile now. He misses you, but insists that he leave you to a quiet, normal life with your chickie-poo. But the truth is, he _needs_ you, Dean. You more than anyone understands what it’s like to spend time in Hell. He’s not doing so hot and it’s got me worried, so if it’s okay with you, I’d like to bring him by.”

Dean’s forehead creased with worry. “How did he get out, anyway? I thought it was impossible.”

“Dean, when you’re an archangel, even one under the witness protection program, you pick up a few tricks. I got him out, all right? Now you need to fix him.”

“Yes, of course, bring him by,” Dean said eagerly.

Gabriel pulled a cherry sucker out of his coat jacket and stuffed it in his mouth, letting the wrapper fall. “Castiel,” he said. “Oh dear, I see you’ve taken your fall from grace gracefully. Have you told Dean here what you did to get yourself booted?”

Cas struggled to sit up. “Gabriel, not a word,” he said desperately.

“Oh, but Dean deserves to know. Go on, tell him that you’ve fallen.”

“I already have,” Cas said in a guarded voice.

Gabriel popped the sucker out of his mouth and twirled the stick in his hand. “Tell him that you fell for _him_.”

Cas glared at Gabriel, but didn’t say anything.

“What’s this, Cas? It’s my fault you got kicked out of heaven?”

“Oh, not at all, Dean-o,” said Gabriel. He fellated his sucker and then held it in his hand. “He’s fallen _for_ you. I must say I’m rather proud of my little brother. I didn’t think you had the capacity for human emotion, Castiel.”

Dean was confused. “Cas, help me out here. What is this dick talking about?”

“Tsk, tsk, Dean. It’s not nice to insult your brother’s savior. Come on now, Castiel. Tell Dean about how you’ve been visiting him in his dreams.”

Dean’s eyes bugged out. “What?” he shouted. “Is that true? Is that why I’ve been having gay dreams about you?”

“No, it isn’t,” Cas said. “Gabriel, thank you for bringing the subject to light. May I have some time alone with Dean to explain to him how it works?”

Gabriel grinned. “Gladly,” he said, sticking his sucker back into his mouth. He snapped his fingers and was gone.

Dean stood with his arms crossed, looking down at Cas skeptically. “Care to explain, then?”

Cas sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed, shoulders drooped. “I visited your dreams to help keep your nightmares of Hell away. Everything that we did in your dreams, though, was sprung from your own subconscious. I don’t have the ability to make you do things you don’t want to do, not even in a dream. Nor would I want that ability.”

“So you’re saying that it’s my fucked up subconscious that wants to be fucked by you? You didn’t do anything to encourage it?”

“I fell, Dean. I fell in love with you. It’s a sin that no angel should commit; loving a human the way I love you prevents me from loving God with my entire self. In my Father’s absence, my brothers and sisters passed judgement on me, but I don’t think He intended for us to never fall in love. He created your race and loves you because of your imperfections; when He created the angels, it was to have children who would never stray. However, I think He realized how unfair that was, otherwise He wouldn’t have made humans to be flawed. I’m becoming more like Him—more like you, and it scares my siblings. That’s what happened.”

“Cas, I’m not gay, though,” Dean insisted, pushing back the memory of himself masturbating to thoughts of Cas earlier that morning.

“Dean, love knows no gender,” Cas reminded him. “I know that you have trouble understanding and expressing love, so I’m not looking for you to declare undying love for me. Just know that my love for you is real, and your happiness is my calling. I wasn’t going to tell you any of this, but since you have asked, I have answered.”

“Fuck,” Dean swore, kicking the mini-fridge with his boot.

His lungs ached and he felt like he’d been kicked in the gut, winded by Cas’s words. Could it possibly be true that he loved Cas the same way Cas loved him? He doubted Cas would lie about being able to control him, and that meant that his dreams really were his. _He_ was the one making the moves; he was the one that caused Cas to fall in love and thus to fall from grace. It was all his fault.

“I can’t deal with this shit,” he said, frantic. “I’ll be in the hotel bar. Come get me when Sam gets here.”

With that, he slammed the front door shut behind him and made his way to the bar downstairs, hoping to lose himself by drowning in beer.

~*~

After a few hours had passed and Dean was pleasantly buzzed, Cas tapped him on the shoulder.

He swung his head drunkenly to meet the downcast expression Cas was wearing. It tugged at his heart and the alcohol just fueled his confusion. He felt responsible for everything that had happened to Cas and it left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth.

“Your brother is here,” Cas said, squeezing Dean’s shoulder slightly.

Dean reached up and put his hand over Cas’s, holding him in place. “Thanks, Cas,” he said, staring into his beer. “You’re a good friend.” He closed his eyes and squeezed Cas’s hand. “I’m coming.”

He got off the bar stool and held onto Cas’s arm as Cas led him back to their room.

“Sammy?” Dean asked, as he came through the door of the hotel room.

“Dean,” Sam said. “It’s been a while.” He was sitting at the table calmly, looking just as Dean remembered; Gabriel was hovering nearby, stuffing his face with chocolate M&M’s.

Dean rushed over and fisted the lapels of Sam’s flannel shirt, hauling his brother up out of the chair. “You son of a bitch! You’ve been out of the pit for almost a year and you never thought to call?” He dropped Sam’s shirt, and fell backwards into the other chair.

Sam appeared unfazed. “I told Gabriel I didn’t want to to see you, but he never listens to me.”

“What the hell, Sam? Why wouldn’t you want to see me after you got out—to at least let me know that you’re alive?”

“You wouldn’t understand,” said Sam. He looked up at Gabriel and said. “Well, your experiment failed; can we leave now?”

Anger built up within Dean. “What do you mean I wouldn’t understand?” he demanded, bringing his fist down upon the table. “I can’t understand what you’re going through if you won’t even give me a chance!”

Gabriel shrugged at Sam and sat on the counter beside the mini-fridge. Cas stood behind Dean and studied Sam.

Sam looked up at Dean. “Oh yeah, I forgot your co-dependant relationship with your guardian angel. He killed his own brothers, Dean! How can you stand to be around filth like that?”

“Sam!” Dean growled. “He did it for my sake and forfeited his place in Heaven to help us!”

“That’s what I’m fucking talking about, Dean!” Sam roared back. “He kept you from playing your role!. It shouldn’t have been Adam down in that cage with me; it should have been _you_!”

Dean raked his hand through his hair. Sam had hit at the exact point that Dean had been struggling with ever since his brothers fell into the Pit. “Don’t you think I know that?” he shouted. “Don’t you think I’ve regretted it every day since it all went down? You left me with some pretend, apple-pie life when you knew I couldn’t do it—that I wasn’t cut out for it. You could have at least told me you were back. I would have helped you. It’s my job as your brother!”

“Yeah,” Sam spat back. “And do you know what my job as a brother led to? Huh? I had to watch Michael leave Adam’s body, burn his eyes out and leave him practically comatose and drooling, just aware enough to be tortured by whatever was in his head in that place. Lucifer’s leaving my body did nothing to me; I was his true vessel, and you were Michael’s. If you had just played your fucking part, that wouldn’t have happened to Adam!”

“Christ, Sammy. What do you want me to do? Say I’m sorry? I am; I’m really sorry things happened the way they did, but that’s all in the past and we have to move forward. There’re still a lot of demons out there that need to be ganked.”

“I can’t have this conversation with you,” Sam said. “You never fucking listen! Gabriel, take me home.”

Dean looked over to Gabriel, who lifted his shoulders and eyebrows. Dean turned back to Sam. “What is this, Sammy? Why are you depending on Gabriel, anyway? We’re family—home is with me, not with a fucking archangel of an absent God!”

“Leave God out of this,” Sam hissed. “Gabriel was there for me when no one else would be. He got me out of that cage and gave me a new chance at life. I’ll not have you putting him down in front of me.”

Dean shut his eyes and rubbed them with his fists. “Sam, I can’t do this right now. Will you come back and talk some more tomorrow? Please? Let’s work through it together.”

Sam scoffed. “Whatever.” He stood up and pulled Gabriel off the counter by his waist. Dean lifted an eyebrow, and looked up to find Cas was looking down at him, sadly.

“Well, it’s been fun,” Gabriel said. He held onto Sam and snapped his fingers, disappearing them.

“Cas, I don’t know what to do,” Dean said softly, looking at his hands where they were folded on the table. “He’s right. It should have been me down in the pit with him." After a pause, he shook his head and shouted, "Fuck!” and banged his hand on the table. “I can’t deal with this shit!” He stood up and brushed past Cas, grabbing his jacket. He put his hand on the doorknob. “I’m going for a drive; don’t follow me.” He slammed the door shut behind him. 

When he got to the Impala, Cas was sitting in the passenger seat.

Dean unlocked the driver’s side door and slid behind the wheel. “I thought I told you not to follow me,” he said, trying to appear unfazed.

“I chose to ignore your request,” said Cas. “I don’t want you to be alone when you’re like this.”

“Like what, Cas?” Dean demanded, shoving his key into the ignition. He turned the car on, and looked over to find Cas staring at him with unblinking eyes.

“You are upset,” Cas said simply.

Dean backed up and pulled out of the parking lot, tires screaming. “You think?” he said, shaking his head. He turned on the radio, and searched the stations with his hand, eyes on the road ahead.

It was midday in the small town, and Dean was speeding. He slammed the radio off, not finding anything worth listening to. “Stop staring at me, Cas,” he said.

Cas sighed and looked out the window. “You should slow down. There is a police car up ahead,” he offered.

Dean took a deep breath and slowed the car, they passed by without being stopped. Dean spotted a bar off the highway and pulled into the gravel parking lot. He shut off the engine.

“You wanna drink with me?” he asked Cas, turning to look at him.

Cas looked back and caught Dean’s eyes in a deep stare. “I will drink with you, but you have to let me get us back to the hotel.”

Dean pulled the keys out of the ignition and shoved them in his pocket. “Yeah, all right, whatever. Let’s go.”

They got out of the car and Cas followed Dean inside. It was dark and smoke from the bartender’s cigarette curled in spires around the lamps on the bar.

“Let’s sit at a booth,” Cas suggested as Dean made to sit at a barstool. “I want to talk without being overheard.”

“Fine,” Dean said, turning to walk towards a booth at the back of the room. They were the only patrons. Dean slid into place. “I’m warning you now, Cas; I’m not much in the mood for conversation.”

The waitress came to the table and Dean ordered a bottle of Jack Daniels and two shot glasses. He tossed his credit card towards the end of the table so she could charge it before they began drinking.

Cas raised his eyebrow, having caught sight of the name on the card. “You’re using your own name, I see?”

“Yeah, probably for the last time,” Dean said, smiling as the waitress set the bottle and glasses down on the table. She took the card with her. “I told Lisa I was leaving. I’m just not cut out for this whole respectable life shit.” He chuckled to himself, pouring himself and Cas shots. “You know, she thinks the reason it didn’t work out with us is because of you.”

“Is it?” Cas asked, taking the glass from Dean and cocking his head slightly as he waited for an answer.

“I don’t know,” Dean said, downing his shot in one. “At least she thinks you’re a woman.”

Cas drank his shot and set the glass down beside the bottle. “Is that a good thing?” he asked.

Dean stared at his fresh shot. “It’s good for my image, at least,” he said quietly. “I don’t know what’s real anymore. She said a lot of stuff, like—I dunno, like I talk in my sleep and I’m apparently in love with you.”

“Dean,” Cas said, reaching over and taking Dean’s hand. “Do you remember your dreams—the words we exchanged in them?”

Dean shook his head and drank his second shot. He slipped his hand out of Cas’s. The waitress brought his card back to him and he signed the slip of paper and took the receipt. She winked at him, and then turned back to the bar. Dean flipped the receipt to Cas.

“She’s written her number on it,” Dean said smugly.

“Yes, I believe that happens to you frequently,” Cas observed. “Do you remember, Dean?”

Dean shut his eyes, and rested the empty shot glass against his temple. “A little, all right? Not everything. I’m not sure I want to remember.”

Cas sighed and poured himself another shot. He drank it.

Dean opened his eyes, staring at Cas. “What did we say to each other? I’m just wondering.” His heart sped up, wondering how much Cas knew about him, and how much were his own thoughts.

Cas looked down at the table, and then back up at Dean. “You told me you wouldn’t let me die a virgin,” he began, “you told me you loved me, and we had a lot of sex. I—I fell for you, Dean. But if you want it to just remain a dream on your end, I will try to understand.”

Dean felt himself flush as memories of what Cas was relating to him came flooding back. He poured another shot.

“Dean, please,” Cas said, touching Dean’s hand softly, preventing him from lifting his glass. “Let me comfort you. Let me help you.”

Dean looked down to where Cas was touching him. He was rubbing his thumb lightly over Dean’s knuckles. It was a comforting sensation. He looked back up to Cas’s penetrating eyes.

“Fuck,” he swore, and took his drink in the other hand, bringing it to his lips. He downed it, and set the glass down on the table. “Cas, I don’t know how. I’m damaged goods. What the hell do you see in me?”

“I will show you if you let me take us back to the hotel room,” Cas said calmly. “I love you, even when you’re feeling broken. I want to help build you up again, to make you realize how much you matter to me.”

Cas appeared sitting beside Dean in the booth. Their thighs were pressed together and Cas’s face was inches from Dean’s. He took Dean’s hand into his lap and squeezed it with both of his hands.

“I need—” Dean began, but was cut off when Cas leaned forward and took his mouth in a kiss.

Dean felt himself relax. All the tension he’d been carrying over the past year, worrying about whether he’d done the right thing with Sam, wondering where Cas was and whether he would come back, melted as the healing power of Cas’s grace spilled through his kiss into Dean’s body.

Dean broke the kiss and looked deep into Cas’s eyes. “I don’t want to be alone anymore,” he whispered.

“Let me take you back, Dean. Let me love you,” Cas pleaded.

Dean felt his emotions fighting each other. He didn’t want to think of Cas in a sexual way, but he did. He didn’t want to admit that what he felt for Cas wasn’t such a bad thing to feel, but denial was fading under Cas’s gaze. “Okay,” he said, pulse thundering in his ears as he felt his entire body heat up.

Cas touched his forehead with two fingers and they were back in the hotel room, sitting on the end of the bed.

“Let me take care of you,” Cas said. He leaned over and brushed his lips softly over the shell of Dean’s ear.

Cas moved to stand in front of Dean. He dropped to his knees before him.

Dean looked into Cas’s bright blue eyes. “What do you want from me?” he asked. Cas ran his hands up Dean’s denim covered thighs. He scooted forward, so he was kneeling between Dean’s legs.

Dean’s eyes widened. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling, if it was fear, or lust, or just the need to be touched—cared for. He nodded at Cas, unsure at what exactly he’d given permission for.

Cas’s hands moved closer to the bulge in Dean’s pants, finally closing one hand on top of it. He rubbed and Dean’s breath came out shakily as he felt himself swell beneath the heat of Cas’s hand. Using his hand to bring Dean’s zipper down, he grabbed the waistband of his jeans and pulled them down to his ankles. While Dean held onto the sides of Cas’s face, fingers tickling the sides of his short brown hair, Cas reached into Dean’s boxer-briefs, and pulled his growing cock out through the hole in front.

Cas said nothing, but bent his head forward and licked a tentative tongue across the crown of Dean’s cock, making it harden further. Dean looked down to see Cas’s serious expression, his pupils dilated with lust. He watched as Cas closed his mouth over the head of his cock, and then there was nothing but sensation. Cas sucked him, flattening the head against the roof of his mouth with his tongue. Dean’s fingers gripped Cas’s hair tight and he thought he’d die from longing while Cas took him in deeper, bobbing his head up and down, all the while looking up at Dean with his piercing eyes.

“Fuck, Cas,” Dean moaned, and bucked his hips, pushing himself into Cas’s throat. “That feels good.”

Cas used one hand to cup Dean’s balls through the fabric of his underwear, squeezing them gently, never relenting in his up-and-down assault on Dean’s cock.

“Yeah,” Dean gasped, throwing his head back on his shoulders, looking up at the ceiling with its swirled patterns of paint. In response, Cas closed his eyes and hummed around Dean’s cock.

The next thing Dean knew, he was lying in his underwear on his back on the bed, and Cas was kneeling over him, his large black wings spread out behind him.

Dean's eyes widened at the awesome sight of an angel's wings. He knew Cas must have had them, but to see them in real life, was more incredible than he'd imagined. They were spread and must have been at least twelve feet from tip to tip. He raked his fingers through the angel’s soft black and white down. He pulled at it, shaking it loose, so it fell all about his body on the pillow.

  


Cas closed his eyes and relaxed as Dean explored his wings, letting Dean plunge his hands into the under-feathers, pulling at them, testing the resistance. He traced them up to the ridges of Cas’s wings and pulled them down, so he and Cas were enveloped in the soft, dark cage of feathers. Dean moved his hands to Cas’s shoulders and held onto him, just looking up into his angel’s eyes. He pulled and Cas followed—followed Dean’s encouragement to take his mouth in a kiss.

Their mouths moved together in a perfect dance. Dean felt his erection weep against the fabric of his underwear while he held onto Cas and massaged the place where his wings sprouted from his back. Cas whimpered into Dean’s mouth, lowering himself onto Dean so they were pressed chest to chest, cock to cock. Pulling on Cas’s wings again, bringing him impossibly closer, Dean drank deeply from his mouth, moaning into the kiss and letting himself feel. Cas rubbed Dean’s body along the sides of his torso in gentle up and down strokes. It sent a surge of fire flooding through Dean’s nervous system, and he pressed up hard against Cas’s erection, grinding against him as much as he could.

Cas broke the kiss and stared down into Dean’s eyes. “I want to give you everything,” he said softly.

“What do you mean?” Dean asked, lightheaded.

“I want to take you, like the men in that movie, and then I want you to do it to me. I love you, Dean. I want all of you.”

Dean let his eyes drift shut. He ran his fingers through Cas’s feathers again, delighting in their softness. Was he actually going to let Cas fuck him? He’d loved it when it occurred in his dreams, but he was afraid the reality would hurt. Still, Cas had given him everything. He’d fallen from grace for Dean to be able to stay in charge of his own body. It seemed that letting Cas have his body was the best way to thank him, but more than that, he needed Cas. He needed to be fucked, to be loved, filled full of Cas’s innocence.

Cas was giving that to him as well.

“Dean?” Cas asked, his voice nervous.

“Yes, Cas,” Dean finally answered. “I want you to take me. I accept that you love me. I’m so sorry I’ve been such a pain in the ass for so long. I really don’t know how you put up with me.”

Dean opened his eyes to meet Cas’s brilliant smile. His face was shining with what grace he had left and the sight went straight to Dean’s heart—piercing it like cupid’s arrow.

Cas folded his wings back and slid Dean’s underwear off of his body. “You are so beautiful,” he said, looking at Dean from his face down and back. "I want to please you.”

Dean wasn’t sure how to respond to being called beautiful. It didn’t feel very manly, but it felt good to hear. He pretended not to have heard it, but secretly locked the memory in his mind so that he could look at it later.

Cas leaned down and kissed Dean again, his face rough with the shadow of a beard. It felt so different from when Dean kissed a woman. Cas kissed like he was made to do it, to devour Dean’s soul through his mouth. It excited Dean beyond what he’d like to admit. He closed his eyes, so he didn’t have to think about what they were doing and just felt.

Cas crawled backwards between his legs, lifting them to rest on his shoulders. It felt very strange for Dean to be in this position, but the feel of Cas’s wings brushing against his bare feet made his libido surge eagerly.

He felt his cheeks being parted and then his hole was licked. His eyes shot open as he realized what Cas was doing to him, but he felt himself fall apart, turning into a puddle the more Cas licked and sucked, and then began to fuck him with his tongue. Dean held onto Cas’s hair, trying not to pull it too hard as he was being eaten. He felt the walls of his hole relax under Cas’s slippery assault and was afraid his orgasm was going to hit before he was ready for it. His cock lay heavy against his stomach, pulsing with blood and leaking pre-come into his navel.

“Oh, fuck, Cas!” Dean cried, as Cas had his tongue thrust in as deep as it would go and was slurping and wiggling it inside Dean’s body.

Then Cas was gone, and Dean felt empty and cold where Cas’s tongue had been. He looked down to see what Cas was doing and saw him spreading lube on his fingers from a bottle. Dean felt his hole clench at the thought of where those fingers were going and what would follow them. He breathed deeply, seeing little sparks flying at the edge of his vision. Then a finger penetrated him and he sucked in a large breath, holding it as the finger worked him, pushing in and out. It hit his prostate, making him exhale with a shout of pleasure. He looked down to find Cas smiling up at him, pushing that spot again with his finger, massaging it from inside.

Dean was lost. One finger became two and then three and he was reeling under the feelings stirred in his chest. He began to buck back against the fingers, his hole stretching around them, trying to suck them in deeper even as Cas pulled them back.

And then the blunt head of Cas’s cock was pushing at his loosened opening. He breathed in fast, short breaths. Cas put his hand on Dean’s chest and Dean looked up, panicking.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Cas said, face practically glowing. His voice and touch was soothing to Dean. Dean nodded and concentrated on relaxing.

He was breached and cried out in equal measures of pain and pleasure. Cas pushed inside all the way and rose above Dean, stroking his flagging erection back into hardness. Dean squeezed his eyes shut tight, a stray tear escaping and rolling down his face to rest inside the shell of his ear.

“Look at me, Dean,” Cas said.

Dean opened his eyes. It was just Cas, who would never hurt him. He nodded and Cas began to move, sliding in and out of Dean’s smooth inner passage. God, it felt strange, but not bad. The initial feeling of being split open dulled to a low throb, and a hungry pleasure replaced it as Cas thrust, pushing against his prostate.

He looked up at Cas’s face. It was contorted with pleasure. Cas had his mouth dropped open and his eyes were closed, his hair flapping against his head with each push. Dean felt his heart break, overflowing with emotions he didn’t dare name. Cas began breathing hard, his voice rising with his thrusts. He grunted and moaned like the porn stars he’d been watching that morning. It made Dean smile to see Cas let go and experience the pleasure of sex. He had promised that Cas wouldn’t die a virgin, after all, though he didn’t think he’d be fulfilling the promise personally.

Cas’s eyes snapped open and he looked down at Dean, face morphing into something akin to agony.

“What is it, Cas?” Dean moaned, looking up, concerned. Cas hit his sweet spot again and made his toes curl against the softness of Cas’s wings.

“I’m close,” Cas gasped.

Dean took his erection in hand and began to pull on it in time with Cas’s pushes. “It’s good, Cas,” Dean said, voice cracking. “I want you to come.”

Cas’s eyes grew wide as his orgasm overtook him. Dean felt him stiffen as he cried out loudly, something in Enochian, and then Dean was coming as well, watching Cas’s face burst with grace and love. Wave after wave of pleasure ran through him, pumping out of his cock, and squirting sticky white come across his chest and belly. Cas had sweat beading along his hairline and it began to drip down the sides of his face, catching at the edge and hanging in precarious drops. Dean didn’t want to lose the sensation of fullness. He wrapped his legs around Cas’s ass, pulling him further into himself.

Cas collapsed on top of Dean, kissing and sucking on the side of his neck, breaths coming thick and heavy, so Dean could feel his lungs working as their chests pressed together sticky with sweat and come. Dean wrapped his arms around Cas’s back, stroking his feathers and listening to him moan next to his ear.

He closed his eyes, content to stay put for as long as possible.

~*~

When Dean opened his eyes the next morning, he was keenly aware of Cas’s body heat pressed up against his back. His naked body was covered by one of Cas’s soft, black wings, folded over him, tucking him in. He let his hand trail down the pattern of feathers, aware of the hitch in Cas’s breath as it puffed against the back of his neck.

“Cas?” Dean asked, mouth quirking into a smile. He felt Cas’s morning wood poking him in the ass again, but this time he pressed back against it, keenly aware of the dull ache inside that reminded him that Cas had been there the night before.

“Good morning,” Cas whispered against his neck, making his skin break out in goosebumps.

Dean ran his hand along Cas’s outer feathers again, listening to the mewls Cas made when his wings were touched. In an instant, Cas had folded his wings into his back and pulled Dean’s body so Dean was lying on top of him, between his legs.

He grinned and ground down on Cas’s erection, bodies sticking together uncomfortably, but the pressure felt fantastic. Cas wrapped his arms around Dean’s back and pulled him down so their chests were pressed together again.

“My turn,” he said coyly.

Dean grinned and nuzzled his face against the crook of Cas’s neck, inhaling deep the scent of Cas and sex. “Damn straight,” he said, pressing his lips into Cas’s skin.

~*~

Later, when Dean came out of the bathroom showered and shaved, Gabriel and Sam were at the table by the window, while Cas was dressed and fussing with the coffee pot on the counter.

“Morning!” Dean said brightly. “Wanna go get breakfast?” Sam just looked at him moodily, and Dean asked, “What?” walking over to the bed to sit and put his boots on.

“You look almost as pleased as Castiel this morning, Dean,” Gabriel observed. “Found yourself a fine piece of tail, did you?”

Dean grinned. “Yeah, I guess you could say that. Come on, Sammy. Snap out of the funk, it’s a beautiful day. If you want, we can go hunting after breakfast.”

Sam glared at him.

Giving up on the coffee pot, Cas unplugged it before he could start a fire, and turned to face Gabriel. “I agree with Dean. We should get some breakfast.”

“So, you’re eating now, Castiel? How human does that brand on your arm make you?”

Cas colored. “Human enough,” he said.

Gabriel grinned. “I see, so the two of you finally came to your senses, did you?”

Dean looked up after tying his shoelaces, wearing a wide grin that needed no explanation. He stood up and pulled the keys to the Impala out of his jeans pocket. “Cas and I are going for breakfast. You two are invited,” he said, grabbing Cas’s trench coat from the closet and tossing it at him. He slung on his own leather jacket over his favorite T-shirt and opened the door, letting the warmth of the morning sun shine into the room.

Gabriel shrugged and pulled Sam out of his seat, holding onto his hand and dragging him out to the car.

~*~

They sat at a round booth in the Diner, Cas and Sam squeezed into the middle. The waitress had just taken their orders and brought them coffee and an orange juice for Sam.

“So how did you manage get Sam out of the cage?” Cas asked Gabriel. Beside him, Sam stiffened.

Gabriel shrugged, and Dean looked on, intent on hearing the particulars as well. “Simple. I asked God to let him out,” he said, and took a sip of his coffee.

Cas gaped at him. “You _know_ where God is?”

“Yes, of course,” said Gabriel with a smirk. “He’s a lot like me, actually. Put Himself in His own witness protection program so He could do what He wants, without judgment. I could put in a good word if you want your grace back, Castiel.”

Cas shook his head, face going pink. “No, I’m actually content.”

“What?” Gabriel asked, disbelieving. “You’re content being a fallen angel?”

Sam looked at Cas, a curious expression on his face, but Castiel just took Dean’s hand in his and linked their fingers on top of the table. “I fell for a good reason. Grace or no grace, nobody can take my prize away from me.”

Gabriel punched Sam lightly in the arm. “See that, Sammy?” he said. “Dean won’t mind.”

Dean looked up. “Won’t mind what?”

“Shut up, Gabriel,” Sam said.

“Oh, hush now,” Gabriel chided. “Sam’s having an identity crisis. He’s finding it hard to admit that he likes the feel of my cock.”

Sam’s face went red and he looked at Gabriel with murder in his eyes.

Dean looked from one to the other and cleared his throat. “Well, maybe if you let him switch it up every so often, it won’t be so hard to admit,” he said, squeezing Cas’s hand.

Gabriel tapped his fingers against his lips. “You might be on to something there, Dean.” He turned to Sam. “How about I sit in _your_ lap this time, once breakfast is over?”

“Oh, good God,” Sam cried and covered his face with his hands. Gabriel grinned and one of his hands disappeared under the table. Sam let out a squeak.

Dean laughed at his little brother getting his butt pinched by his  
trickster-archangel-hero-boyfriend. “It’s worth it, Sam,” Dean said, taking a sip from his coffee.

Sam brought his hands down and glared at Dean. “How would you know what’s good for me or not?”

Dean put his mug down on the table. “Look, dude, I was in hell too, alright? I get it, I get why you’re going all emo and shit, but the point is that God let you out. I don’t think He would have given you another chance at life if He’d known you would waste it feeling sorry for yourself. This is life, so live already.” Sam shut his eyes and opened them slowly. He opened his mouth to retort, but shut it again.

The waitress brought their breakfasts around, and passed out the plates. She refilled the coffees and left them to eat. Cas cocked his head and turned towards the window.

“Cas, you all right?” Dean asked.

Cas turned back around, smiling brightly. “I just heard his voice. God answered me,” he said.

“Oh yeah?” Gabriel said. “What’d the old man have to say?”

Cas smiled. “He said, ‘While you’re alive, try not to fall while flying, and don’t forget how to dream or love.’”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Fucking poetry. That’s what He’s into now.” He took a large bite of his eggs.

Sam looked thoughtful at Cas’s words, and Dean knew he was going to be okay. It would just take a bit of time.

~*~ The End ~*~

  



End file.
